People in tornado country - Fill me in

luvmykids wrote: As a newbie, I'm trying not to be nervous that we're under tornado watch At what point DO you worry? Everyone around here kind of jokes about it, but my way of thinking is, it's the one time you don't take it seriously that it will actually happen, kwim?

And, am I correct that if you are only getting rain and not hail, it's not likely that a tornado will form?

mckayleesmom replied: I'm not sure...I have been through a couple, but I always listened to the radio and took cover when told and also the towns I lived in had tornado warnings...A loud alarm would sound all over town.

Just to add...I always made precautions just in case. I would put some food, water, blankets , flashlight, candles and snacks wherever my shelter area was..Just in case.

luvmykids replied:
Ok, I don't feel crazy then My theory is it can go from a watch to a warning pretty quickly, so I put a stash in the closet under the stairs (which is where we would go) and DH laughed at me

We're out of ear shot for the sirens, I'm trying to figure out what we'll need to do during tornado season to know about them in the middle of the night.

mckayleesmom replied:
I use to blow those warnings off too until one time I barely made it to the basement before all the windows in the house shattered and half the siding was ripped off our house. I then went to my moms house afterwards and she had a broken arm...she was trying to save her plants outside... and the wind picked her up and threw her about 30 feet.

DillsMommy replied: I'm such a nervous wreck when it storms bad. As soon as the tornado watch turns into a warning--I'm in the basement.

luvmykids replied:
How long is the warning, I mean can it go for hours and hours? Or is it the kind of thing where it either hits, or moves on?

That's what I was asking DH tonight, if it turns to warning do you automatically duck for cover, or can it be a warning for hours and hours like a watch can be?

Maddie&EthansMom replied: They will tell you when the warning will end. For us it was 10 p.m.--unless they extend it or add another warning. There are so many storms in the area right now. So far there aren't tornadoes in our area, but a few have been spotted over by you, but moving away from you I believe.

Stay safe. It will pass. And then comes Spring.

The only place we have to go is the bathtub. We would just get a mattress off the kids bed and cover up with it.

Maddie&EthansMom replied: Oh and you may want to buy a weather radio since you are out of ear shot for the sirens and you might lose reception on the TV.

luvmykids replied: I actually really enjoyed the thunderstorm. Until I heard the weatherman say that was what might cause the tornado

I just found out about weather radios, I had to google "tornado preparedness". I'm such a nerd

HuskerMom replied:
Yes you can get a tornado if you're only getting rain.

I don't really worry when we're in a tornado watch. We only get worried when we hear the sirens go off.

And we're kind of bad, we do sometimes go out on the porch during a warning.

mom21kid2dogs replied: When to worry . . . .
Anytime a tornado WARNING is issued for your immediate area. In our house, we hi tail it to the basement. We can stay either under the workbench or the stairs if it hits. There are only two very small windows. To find a safe area in your home, go to the lowest floor possible. Stay away from windows and it's bet to find something sturdy, heavy and unlikely to collapse on you if debris hits it. Something against a basement wall is ideal (that's why we go under the workbench). We keep a plasic bin with water, small amount of snacks (granola bars), a weather radio (crank style), flashlight (crank style) and a blanket. We go from the minute it's issued until it is lifted. Since you are out of the range of sirens, purchase a weather radio that has an alert. They make some that will trigger when a weather emergency is called for your area.

It's a great idea to practice safety drills with the kids so they are less frightened. Olivia sees it as a big adventure when we have to go downstairs. Although a tornado has never actually touched downin our county, we will never underestimate it's power and always take the warning seriously. I grew up in Northern Ohio and have lived trough several including one that killed 3 people at Cedar Point in the early 80's when I worked there. They are swift, deadly and unpredictable.

mckayleesmom replied: Oh...I forgot to add...check with your local fire department to see what day they test the sirens..this way you don't freak out when you hear it go off in the future. That is if you are within earshot of it. They usually test them once a month.

MommyToAshley replied:
I agree with Cheryl... everything she said. We don't mess around with tornado WARNINGS. The minute a warning is issued, we head for the basement. If the siren goes off, we are in the basement immediately and then investigate later. There have been some pretty deadly tornados come through here, fortunately I have never been in one myself.

Definitely get the crank-style weather radio with alerts. When/If your power goes out, it will be the only way you know what is happening. We got one on sale at Walgreens of all places and it was one of the best investments we made.

coasterqueen replied: My husband is less insane about this than I am. I think it's because I remember clear as day being in one when I was in pre-school. We also had some pretty bad ones go through the area a few years back, but we were lucky not to get hit personally. We also live in the country where before those bad tornadoes a few years back we had NO sirens. You could not hear the sirens from town either. We now have a siren near us. We do not do much with a watch. Basically during a watch we'll keep an eye on the sky outside, get flashlights, candles ready and make sure there is gas in the generator in case we lose power. If there is a warning, especially in the evening hours we just all commit to sleeping in the basement. We have no windows in our basement so we don't really worry about where we sleep down there. After the bad tornadoes a few years back and losing power for so long we always make sure our generator is ready because if we lose power we can hook it up to our furnace (in cold months, which happened that one year) and refrigerator to it.

coasterqueen replied: Forgot to add that we keep a weather radio at home as well.

We also worry about straight line winds as well as tornado warnings. Out were we live there is a lot of open fields and for some reason the straight line winds do a LOT more damage than the tornadoes do and usually don't get warnings for them.

luvmykids replied: I'm suprised more houses here don't have basements. Not a whole lot have storm shelters either.

luvmykids replied:
It's very open where we are too, part of what made me a little nervous last night I think....nothing around to get in the way of any wind or tornado before hitting us.

DH finally quit laughing at me when we looked outside and saw a few rails from the fence missing, then he was all business. By that point though I'd heard the news and knew it had all passed us and went to bed

coasterqueen replied:
They just never take it as serious as us.

We had straight line winds around here not to long ago and the damage it did to a small town nearby was just TERRIBLE compared to what I've seen tornado damage do. Tornadoes kind of pick and choose. The house next door to you could be gone, but yours still standing. The straight line winds just take out EVERYTHING. At least here it does.

Maddie&EthansMom replied:
Yeah, basements are very rare in the south.